I paid off my £40k debt in five years and it was pretty easy – the weekly shop is the first thing to ditch
A SAVVY mum has taken to TikTok to share how she paid off her £40k debt in just five years – and claims the key was cutting out weekly food shops.
Maddy Alexander-Grout, known online as @madaboutmoneyofficial, revealed that she also lived off just 60 per cent of her salary while putting the other 40 per cent towards paying off her credit cards.
Now the mum regularly shares money-saving and budgeting tips with her 31,600 TikTok followers.
In a new reel, she said: “So I get asked a lot how did I pay off 40 Grands worth of debt in five years really fast.
“And the answer to this question is that I made a lot of sacrifices.
“I basically stopped living the life that I was used to. I stopped getting takeaways, I stopped going out all the time, and I made small little changes.
“So the first change that I made – I stopped doing a weekly shop.
“I started doing a daily shop, and I would go in the evenings before my dinner and check out the yellow stickers.
“And with those yellow stickers, I would buy the things I needed to make that evening’s meal.
“I would live off a £10 a week budget for food and it was really difficult. It was really hard.”
“I swapped fizzy drinks for squash. I took things like vodka to the pub with me in a plastic bottle and I just ordered coke so that I could still go out with my friends.
“So some of these sacrifces were super duper important, but they really, really helped me to get there a bit faster.”
Maddy also revealed that she changed up the typical 50/30/30 saving method.
This suggests that people put 50 per cent towards essential items, 20 per cent into savings, and the remaining 30 for everything else.
Instead, she used 50 per cent to pay for her essentials, just 10 per cent for her living and fun expenses and put the other 40 towards her debt.
She continued: “I switched up the 50/30/20 method and I spent 50 per cent of all of my income on the things I had to, like my rent and my bills.
“I spent 10 per cent on my everyday living and fun expenses, and I paid 40 per cent of my entire salary every single month on my debts.
“I negotiated hard the people that I owed money to. I called them up, I inserted payment plans, and I chipped away at them.
“If I ever got a bonus, I would use that to pay off my debts rather than buy myself some new shoes for example.
“It was really, really difficult and there were a lot of hurdles along the way, and I had to change my lifestyle.
“But if you are focused on paying off your debt, you can do it.
“I’m saying this now, I paid 40 Grand worth of debt off in five years and I worked really hard to do it, but it is a case of managing and looking at where you’re putting your money.”
Fans loved Maddy’s tips, with the video gaining more than 200 likes and 8000 views.
In the comments, other TikTok users shared their reactions, with one writing: “That’s inspiring.”
Another joked: “The vodka was more than the food bill.”
Someone else put: “Well done. Would u live like that again to save 40k in 5 years?”
Maddy replied: “No, but I still save a lot been saving for a new house just not that struck anymore.”